Posted on 07/13/2011 9:18:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Look down a list of Windows Phone 7 smartphones being offered without a contract and youll notice the price hovers around the $300-$400. There are some $200 models, but they are few and far between and make a few feature compromises to achieve the lower price point.
The price of buying a smartphone outright is clearly high, but Microsoft has stated that is about to change, and come 2012 you will be able to pick up a Windows Phone 7 smartphone for around $100.
That revelation was announced to a crowd of people attending the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 by Andy Lees, president of the Windows Phone Division. He explained the price drop was down to the ability to now put everything you need to run a system on a single chip. This so-called system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution significantly lowers prices regardless of the platform and operating system you intend to run. Not only will it mean cheaper smartphone components, but also Windows 8 PCs with motherboards smller than the mini-ITX form factor.
The advantage for Microsoft in the smartphone category is that it can get more Windows Phone 7 handsets being offered for free with a contract at all the major networks. Alternatively, buying an unlocked handset without a contract becomes a lot cheaper. In both cases the Windows mobile platform has less barriers to entry and could significantly increase sales.
A question mark remains on whether this will signal the end of $400 high-end smartphones. Its doubtful they will disappear as the internals of the phone are only part of the cost. Youve still got the large touchscreen, casing, and cameras to consider.
The point Lees also tried to make was not just that Windows smartphones will be cheaper, but tablets, PCs, and other consumer electronics devices are also set to fall in price. Microsoft view that as advantageous as it will be present in all those markets come 2012 with Windows 8, meaning one software ecosystem across all your devices.
Thats a view surely shared by Apple and Google with iOS and Android gradually expanding the number of devices they run on too.
Great way to KILL SALES THIS YEAR, Mickeysoft.
Either -all- smartphones will drop to half their current price, or else Microsoft's $100 phone will be mighty slim on function and/or performance.
How the hell do they plan to make a profit at that price? Are they making a loss leader?
The days when they could price Internet Explorer at (free) in order to kill off all the competition are gone. Then, they ruled the desktop. They do not rule the mobile market. They are a too-late bit player at the moment.
I hope they are able to live up to this talk. They are welcome to the market. But they actually have to produce something people want.
Osborne Computer Corp. announced an upgrade from the Osborne 1 to the Osborne Executive at the very worst time in about 1983. Orders were canceled and the revenue drop so killed cash flow that one of the most significant players in the CPM market ran out of money in months.
I remember that- it is the specific example I had in mind.
I wonder who that CEO was?
This may be true, but then you’d be holding and trying to use a Windows 7 Phone.
Seriously, WHO really WANTS one? and why?
Do they come with the Blue Screen of Death?
will it still be a closed system with the useless and absurd “cloud” storage? will windows phones still NOT have an expansion microsd slot?
if it remains a wanabe closed system iphone then I pass.
but windows phone 7 is already dead in the water and few if any people want it.
What's more, Microsoft doesn't even make WinPhone hardware. They merely require a minimum hardware specification from licensees.
Are phones with relatively equivalent specs to today's phones going to be cheaper next year? Of course. What's news about that? That's nothing specific to Microsoft's partners. Apple will be capable of selling low-cost iPhones -- if they want to -- for the same reasons.
But these lower-end, discount phones are going to have shorter lifespans because they might meet today's software needs, but probably will be unable to handle more than one major upgrade down the road. The newer, more powerful devices will have much longer staying power. Again, true across all brands.
I wonder who that CEO was?
As I understand it was Adam Osborne and he was doing presentations for journalists on the new release.
what sales?
win phone 7 is not selling.
MS kill their phones when they specified no card and required “cloud”.
“I may be paranoid but that doesn’t mean people are plotting against me.”
I think you left out the word NOT. With that word in there it would read: I may be paranoid but that doesn’t mean people are not plotting against me.
The classic statement is: Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean nobody’s out to get me!
Mr. Osborne.
I'm not doing anything illegal that the Gov't would chase me for anyway and there's no bank info on my phone (which the Gov't can get anyway from my bank if they want it) and they already have my contact info.
Meanwhile I can keep up to date on my business if I'm out and about and I have the security of being able to call someone if I'm in trouble...like if my old rickety car breaks down or whatnot.
I guess there are upsides and downsides. For me the upsides win.
Duh. W7P has minimum specs, and all of them are met with what was a high-end phone last year. Given the speed of phone technology development, it makes sense that by next year that hardware spec will be available in a low-end phone.
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